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Corps hopes to recall 150 retirees

October 20, 2004

Corps hopes to recall 150 retirees

By Laura Bailey
Times staff writer

Prompted by a high pace of wartime operations, the Marine Corps is calling out to a select number of retired Marines to come back for one last hurrah.
“With the op tempo that the Marine Corps is keeping up, we’re short of people for important billets. Retired Marines bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table. It’s just a group of people we haven’t tapped before,” said Col. Linda McGowan, section head for mobilization at the Corps’ Manpower Plans and Policy branch at Quantico, Va.

Specifically, the Corps is looking for 150 Marines who have retired in the last five years to fill gaps in high-visibility, joint overseas assignments, such as training Iraqi forces.

While most of the assignments involve going overseas, some will be in stateside billets to allow other Marines to move into critical overseas slots, McGowan said.

So far they have filled 72 of the spaces, she said.

The Corps is especially interested in retired Marines with expertise in areas such as security, linguistics and intelligence, said Lt. Col. Jeff Riehl, the sourcing officer in charge of mobilization atQuantico.

Arabic speakers are in especially high demand, as are those with experience in police operations and police training, he said.

The vast majority of commands have requested specific types of people to fill the slots, but interested retirees can still apply, he said.

“Most of the commands are looking for someone who can step into the position and take off running. That’s where the majority of retirees are going to hit a brick wall.”

To qualify, retirees must be medically qualified and have a current top-secret security clearance.

Application rules and forms can be found at Marine Online in the Reserve Duty Online section.